Apparently, you wanted this, students. (We do not remember voting for such a beast.) According to a survey from spring 2007, 60 percent of students polled were in favor of greasy chain Chinese fast food. Woo, yeah, go (panda) bears?

ASUC Senator Christina Oatfield recently authored a bill in opposition to Panda Express opening an on-campus location, but that’s a shot in the dark. You see, it’s about the money. About $500,000 of it, steered toward renovating the student union.

So much for Brazil Cafe. That sassy shack certainly couldn’t dish out the type of dough Panda Express is offering. We guess we’ll just have to cry in our bowl of chow mein. Meanwhile, let’s see if the powers-that-be can actually do anything about the Lower Sproul/student union conundrum of doldrums that has plagued the campus for so long.

but isn’t panda express an improvement on everything there besides cheese and stuff?

Frank said:Oct 2, 2008 at 3:09 am

Panda Express is only a fingernail less disgusting than Arby’s

adfadsf said:Oct 2, 2008 at 4:43 am

panda bears….

or panda marsupials??

dun dun dun…

adfadsf said:Oct 2, 2008 at 4:49 am

whoops. i guess they are more bear than marsupial.

oh well.

at least the mascot is cute.

i’d rather still eat from that place across from cafe durant though. i guess panda express is good for americanized chinese food though, because chinese restaurants generally suck at american-chinese dishes.

Pak Tam said:Oct 2, 2008 at 7:18 am

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Sarah said:Oct 2, 2008 at 1:22 pm

Before we jump to conclusion, we should seriously consider the benefits of having this particular Panda Express on campus — for the record, they are willing to address all our concerns regarding sustainability and are even willing to renovate the space using their own money. Not to mention, they will have healthy food options and will generate revenue, which can only work in favor of the students.

BTW, the stores operations board is currently working on bringing brazil cafe to campus, so no need to fret just yet

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Brazil Cafe is any less greasy than Panda Express. But wake up ASUC! Of course this is all about the money–just like everything else that “requires” your approval. It would behoove the idiots elected to represent Cal students to study up on basic economics, otherwise known as common sense. Incidentally, I don’t recall voting on Brazil Cafe, either.

reno said:Oct 3, 2008 at 6:12 am

I think sarah there has it somewhat right. The problem is that the location is a dank hole. If they renovated that space and opened it up, something like free speech cafe, extended the hours, had some live jazz like cheeseboard-students will play for free- outdoor lighting, place would be bangin meng.

The place needs renovation. But Panda Express is not going to be the next hip spot on campus. Maybe another FSM, maybe a Brazil Cafe–anything that doesn’t look like it was borrowed from a Danville shopping center.

These were all plans that were organized by the ASUC Auxiliary, which is the institution that the University hoisted onto a reckless ASUC in 1998 to get more effective control over the student government, which is supposed to be autonomous. But even since then the Auxiliary has been creeping more and more into taking away autonomy and power from the ASUC and from students and putting it back into the Administration’s hands. The Bear’s Lair and Naia Lounge by the way are both student-owned properties– the ASUC owns it!

Basically, the Auxiliary director will come up with an idea, will enter into negotiations, and then will present it to the Store Operations Board and make the students present look bad/guilty if they vote against it. The SOB is 6 students (4 undergrad including pres & evp and 2 grad) and 5 University faculty/staff. At first glance it looks like a student majority, but it basically means that one student agreeing with the administration puts the administration in control.

So the Auxiliary, led by Nadesan Permaul, basically makes its super-cool plans that are going to make somebody’s resume at the Auxiliary look good, and then does whatever it can to force student representatives to go along. It’s important for students and student press like the Clog and Daily Cal to shed more light on this process in order to re-assure student representatives against this plan that students support them.

Agnieszka said:Oct 3, 2008 at 10:33 am

all of our concerns regarding sustainability? what are they going to source all of their produce from the Berkeley farmers’ market or something? I wouldn’t trust a large fast food chain to do anything of the sort.

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